Working, grinding, progressing– Justin Fields just might be defined with these words. And it shows. To open the season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he threw five touchdowns to one interception with a career-best 65.8% completion rate. In his 6 starts, the Steelers QB pushed the team to a 4-2 record while substituting their injured primary QB– Russell Wilson. But with the champ’s return, Fields got neglected. So did the team’s performance that dropped to a 10-7 from Fields’ 10-3 start.

Come January, Mike Tomlin knew what he had to do. “I’m certainly open to utilizing Justin. He has an awesome skillset.” But nothing. Because you know, Wilson is a veteran. And yes, the apparent preference for Wilson by Tomlin and team owner and President Art Rooney II. While you may think that the Steelers will try to make some sense out of how things unfolded last season, make a decision before the soon-approaching free agency, and keep Fields with them. Or at least announce their plans to bring in a new QB. Still, there is a pin-drop silence in the Steel City.

But it seems like Fields is not being distracted by the 24×7 QB drama of the Pitts and is continuing to be consistent with his drills. And when he is not working out, he has found some other ways to keep himself busy. For one, the Steelers ‘TBD’ QB has chosen to showcase his loyalty to $267B brand Nestle’s Essentia water.

Friday night might be to relax for many after surviving a long week. But not for Fields. Sitting on the field apparently after some practice drills, he dropped some pictures on his Instagram. Quite a balance between his on-field and off-field responsibilities huh?! But what also stole the spotlight was his Essentia Water bottle. His caption read, “Consistency is the key to greatness. No days off, no shortcuts—just relentless pursuit! @EssentiaWater #OverachievingH2O #EssentiaPartner.” Well, of course, Fields is not letting any day go to waste in his pursuit of nailing down a starting job in the league.

As it turns out, Justin has been with the brand owned by the parent company of Nestle since 2022. Then, as a part of the Chicago team, he joined Jimmy Butler of the NBA for the first time in Essentia’s project focusing on, “Maintaining resilience by taking a moment to pause and hydrate,” per Business Insider. 

With these stars, longtime brand ambassadors– multi-platinum singer-songwriter Tate McRae and The Showtime Patrick Mahomes were present too. The brand chose to go with these names because they all had one common denominator– Stop at nothing. For Fields, it was him being selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft and becoming the second QB in his team’s history to surpass the century mark in rushing.

Talking to GQ Sports in April 2023, Fields revealed, “I had some cramping problem during the season, so, I try to stay hydrated as much as possible. Some people say you can’t taste water, but you can definitely taste water you know from high quality water to tap water from the sink.” And which water bottle was he showing off in that video? Yep, you guessed it right. It was none other than Essentia Alkaline water.

Interestingly, this was not the first time that Fields promoted Essentia in the most natural way possible. In May 2022, he posted a video of his practice with the audio saying, “Pause for hydration, stop for nothing. Hydrate, with Essentia ionized alkaline water.” The caption was also interesting with this post as it showed his initiation with the brand as well as in the NFL: “Only just begun 📈 @essentiawater #stopfornothing”

Before the current post, Fields again took it to his Instagram account to share his secret of being ready for anything at all times as he made some heavy chest presses. The caption read, “Staying ready isn’t a choice—it’s a mindset. The work, the grind —it never stops. Relentless ambition fueled by @EssentiaWater 💧 #OverachievingH2O #EssentiaPartner”

Top Comment by Jan C

Come on. Stop acting like Justin Fields is this great god send. He is average at best. ...more

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Mahomes, a QB in his own league, too was all praises for the brand. “As an athlete, I know that I can push myself further when I’m properly hydrated with Essentia,” Mahomes said in a statement about Essentia’s role in his growth.

Talking about growth, Fields’ NFL career is also looking up. But he is playing hard bargain too because he knows what he is worth. His ask? Simple, but not quite. He has made his stance clear that if he returns to the Steelers, “Fields wants a realistic shot to start. He wants a clear path to be the guy for a full season, which he was not last year,” as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler mentioned at the end of February. However, for that he needs to nail down that starting spot, something he might not get in Pittsburgh, at least as per a national reporter.

Mike Tomlin’s stance on Justin Fields as a starter revealed

See there’s no doubt the Steelers would be more than happy to extend Justin Fields’ contract. He is young, has a lot of room to grow and has that chip on his shoulder to prove himself as a worthy starter in the league. But ever since Tomlin decided to go berserk and bench him in favor of Russell Wilson, his relationship with the Steelers head coach hasn’t been the same.

Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports believes Fields is almost certain to hit free agency until he and Tomlin get along again. “There is a market for him and he could chase money. He has to get past any sting/distrust from this season when there was player/assistant sentiment in the building that he return to the starting spot, but Mike Tomlin chose not to do so.”

Well, Tomlin’s decision to stick with Wilson did end up blowing on the Steelers’ face. After winning 6 of the first seven games with Wilson as a starter, the Steelers were 10-3 at one point. From there, everything fell apart, like in Game of Thrones season 8. Wilson lost his flair, and the Steelers lost five games in a row to end 2024 in a disappointing note.

Dianna Russini, Senior NFL Insider for The Athletic also tweeted, “As free agency approaches, the QB carousel is beginning to spin” and one of her pointers mentioned, ” Justin Fields, wanted back in Pittsburgh, is expected to test the market.”

At this point, Fields has most of the leverage over the Steelers. It will be interesting to see how he will cash it out if he does choose to stay in Pittsburgh. If not, the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans are awaiting him to fill their voids while also fulfilling most of Fields’ asks.

As for Fields, it’s pretty clear he wants a starting berth—otherwise he is off to somewhere else. There’s no way he will waste another year playing backup to a QB who is in the twilight of his career.